RIM stock plummets in after hours trading after it reports fiscal Q2 earnings

We reported earlier today that dark
clouds were looming over Research In Motion. This afternoon, RIM announced
its fiscal Q2 earnings [PDF]
and things aren't looking so pretty. The company reported net income of $695
million for the quarter compared to $934 million in fiscal Q1. Its fiscal Q2
earnings were also down compared to the $769 million in made in the same
quarter last year.

RIM stock is taking a beating in after hours trading,
currently down 15.11
percent to $29.93.

When it comes to hardware sales, RIM announced that it
shipped over 13 million BlackBerry smartphones and roughly 500,000 Playbook
tablets. RIM wouldn't specify how many Playbooks it has actually sold at
this point.

For his part, RIM Co-CEO Jim Balsille had this to say about
this company's performance during fiscal Q2:

Fiscal
2012 has gotten off to a challenging start. The slowdown we saw in the first
quarter is continuing into Q2, and delays in new product introductions into the
very late part of August is leading to a lower than expected outlook in the
second quarter. RIM’s business is profitable and remains solid overall with
growing market share in numerous markets around the world and a strong balance
sheet with almost $3 billion in cash. We believe that with the new products
scheduled for launch in the next few months and realigning our cost structure,
RIM will see strong profit growth in the latter part of fiscal 2012.

As a result of its latest misfortunes, RIM also announced
that it will "streamline operations", which means that a
"headcount reduction" will take place. RIM didn't go into specifics
on how many workers will lose their jobs, but the company has a current
workforce of about 17,500 employees.

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